I'm wondering whether Rhum Clement Premiere Canne is at all useful in a Mai Tai, and if not, whether there are any particular drinks it is good in.

I was following Beachbum Berry's Mai Tai recipe and got some Appleton Extra 12 Year at Bevmo. However, for the Martinique rum, Bevmo didn't carry Saint James, and the only Rhum Clement was the Premiere Canne, which I bought.

I finally made it down to HiTime Wines this weekend, and discovered that the Saint James Hors D'Age is out of my price range for the present time, but they also carried Saint James Extra Old and Rhum Clement VSOP which have been recommended. This gave me some buyers remorse, since the VSOP and Premiere Canne are about the same price, and while these other Martinique rums are aged to an amber color the Premiere Canne is a visually light rum.

Based on some previous posts however, it sounds like I may be better off using 2 ounces of Appleton 12 Year rather than combining it with Premiere Canne--but if that is truly the case, then I have a $33 bottle of something I need to figure out what to do with (and it's too expensive of a rum to use in the heavily fruit/citrus light rum drinks where cheaper PR/VI rums will do).

I skipped buying any more Martinique rums for now, but I did pick up some Lemon Hart 151 this weekend, and the Noa Noa is my new favorite drink!

Thanks for the responses. I did make a Mai Tai with Appleton's 12 Year and Premiere Canne and it came out tasting good. However this was with DeKuyper's orange curacao, which I think is a bit harsh. I just bought some Marie Brizard's OC this weekend (in OC, in fact), and look forward to trying it with the above combination.

Yes, the Noa Noa I was talking about was the drink, the "brown Mojito" with brown sugar and Lemon Hart instead of white sugar and white rum. After one of those, I don't think I can drink a regular mojito ever again. The dark rum adds flavor (though the Lemon Hart is special, I think it would work well with any good dark rum) and the brown sugar gives extra mellowness and body without the extreme sweetness regular sugar brings. I may have to get some of the 80 proof Lemon Hart, though, for nights I want to have a Noa Noa and then have a second drink. With the 151 Lemon Hart on Saturday night, the home bartender in myself cut the cocktail imbiber in myself off after one drink!